GOOSEBERRY SAUCE FOR MACKEREL
(Modern Cookery, 1845)
Cut the stalks and tops from half to a whole pint of quite young gooseberries, wash them well, just cover them with cold water, and boil them very gently indeed, until they are tender; drain and mix them with a small quantity of melted butter, made with rather less flour than usual.
Some eaters prefer the mashed gooseberries without any addition, others like that of a little ginger. The best way of making this sauce is to turn the gooseberries into a hair-sieve to drain, them to press them through it with a wooden spoon, and to stir them in a clean stewpan or saucepan over the fire with from half to a whole teaspoonful of sugar, just to soften their extreme acidity, and a bit of fresh butter about the size of a walnut. When the fruit is not passed through the sieve it is an improvement to seed it.
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